Sparks
by nebula2
Summary: Garcia, Reid and a bag of Life Savers. Just a regular day at the office, Right? Fluff piece.


Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its characters are not mine. Just borrowing them.

AN: This is set shortly after the episode "About Face" where Rossi joins the team. Meant for amusement only, so don't expect a brilliant plot line.

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><p>"Life Saver?" Garcia asked, holding up the bag to Dr. Spencer Reid who was standing behind her as she sat in front of her computer screens.<p>

"Thanks," he said, reaching in and removing one of the Wint-O-Green Life Savers.

"You know I've heard these things spark when you bite into them but I never actually tested that out for myself," the FBI analyst commented as she placed the bag of candy down on the desktop.

"Triboluminescence," Reid responded seriously as he started to unwrap the small candy.

"What?" Garcia said, forgetting about the background check that was running and glancing up at the tall genius standing behind her.

"The spark that is produced by what is called Triboluminescence, and is actually present with all hard sugar-based candies but is usually faint. Basically the phenomenon is the emission of light that results from something being smashed or torn. The crushing or tearing effect forces electrons of the molecules making up the substance out of their atomic fields. The free electrons then collide with nitrogen molecules in the air, causing the nitrogen molecules to vibrate. In order to get rid of the excess energy the nitrogen molecules emit light, most of which is ultraviolet light and thus not part of the visible spectrum. The wintergreen flavoring of these candies," Reid said holding up the now unwrapped candy, "which is called methyl salicicylate, is fluorescent. This property allows for the methyl salicicylate to absorb the shorter wavelength ultraviolet light that is given off and then re-emit that light at a longer wavelength that is part of the visible spectrum - in this case blue light." *

"So it really does spark?" Garcia asked excitedly.

"That is what I just said," Reid replied wondering why the tech was asking the question.

"I want to see," she said getting to her feet. "Get ready to bite into that piece of candy Doctor," the tech told him, heading for the light switch.

"Garcia, can't this wait? If you do it at home in your bathroom you can see the spark reflected in . . ."

Reid's voice trailed off as the room was plunged into darkness.

"Ah, Garcia I really don't care for the dark," Reid said, standing still as he was afraid to move and walk into something.

"It's for science, Doc," Garcia said, her voice coming closer to him.

As their eyes were adjusting to the darkness both of them could make out the outline of the other. Despite that Reid still jumped when he felt a hand touch his arm. He heard Garcia laugh.

"Relax, and bite into that candy. The sooner I see a spark, the sooner I'll turn the lights back on."

"Fine."

Reid put the candy in his mouth. Standing on tip toes, Garcia leaned in close to Reid, not wanting to miss the candy spark. Just as he was about to bite down into the candy, the door opened.

"Hey Baby Girl . . . I'm sorry. Am I interrupted something?" Morgan asked slyly, taking in the sight of Garcia standing on tiptoes and leaning in close to Reid.

"Yes, science!" Garcia replied, exasperated. "Now either get out or get in here and close that door!"

"Yes ma'am," Morgan said, stepping into the room, and pushing the door closed behind him. "Just what are we doing?" he asked, standing still as his eyes adjusted to the light.

"I want to see a Life Saver spark," Garcia told him.

"Ahh, so my boy does have 'game'," Morgan replied. "I remember using that trick to impress the girls when I was in high school."

Reid took the candy out of his mouth. "I'm not trying to impress anyone. It was Garcia who brought up the subject in the first place."

"Get that candy back in your mouth and make a spark," Garcia demanded, as Morgan walked closer to the pair.

Reid did as he was told. Putting the Wint-O-Green Life Saver back in his mouth, he bit into the candy.

"I saw it! I saw!" Garcia squealed happily as the door to the office opened.

"How can you see anything in here?" JJ said, walking into the office.

"I saw the spark from a Wint-O-Green Life Saver being bit into," Garcia replied without missing a beat.

"That really works?"

"Of course it does," Reid replied, around the two pieces of candy now in his mouth. "It's called . . ."

"You don't need to bother with that explanation again, Sweet Cheeks. JJ probably wouldn't understand it any better than I did."

Reid shot the technical analyst a wounded look.

"How about someone shows me," JJ said hoping to soothe hurt feelings.

Garcia was already reaching for the bag of candy. She removed one of the circular mints and unwrapped. "Turn out the lights," she instructed.

JJ did as she was told and then carefully made her way toward her co-workers in the darkened room. Her hand found Morgan's arm before she actually saw him.

"Sorry."

"Not a problem," Morgan told her, as JJ took up position next to him.

Before Garcia could bite into the Life Saver though, the office door opened again. "Garcia have you seen . . . " Prentiss stopped in mid-sentence finding her teammates all gathered in the office. "What am I missing out on, a make-out party?" the dark-haired profiler quipped.

"Yeah, don't we make a cute couple," Morgan asked as he looped an arm around Reid's shoulders and kissed the younger man's cheek.

"Hey!" Reid said, stepping away from Morgan and wiping at his cheek with one hand as the others in the room laughed.

"Seriously, what's going on?" Prentiss asked.

"Garcia is going to make a Life Saver spark."

"That really works?"

"It's called Triboluminescence," Reid replied.

"I've already heard enough," Morgan said. Ignoring the annoyed look he was getting from Reid, the dark-skinned profiler glanced over at Prentiss. "Let's get this demonstration over with before the professor here goes into lecture mode."

With a shrug, Prentiss stepped into the office and closed the door. She used a small penlight to make her way safely to the group of profilers and then turned it off. The gathered agents waited a few minutes to let their eyes adjust to the darkness and then Garcia got ready to bite down into the candy. As her teeth crushed the mint, the office door opened once more, getting a groan from both Prentiss and JJ who missed the spark emitted by the candy.

"Garcia have you finished . . ." Hotch started to ask. Seeing most of his team gathered in the office, a perplexed look came to the Unit Chief's face. "What's going on?"

"A demonstration of Triboluminescence," Morgan replied, without missing a beat.

"English please."

"I'm going to make a Life Saver Spark. Want to watch?" Garcia replied.

"How old are you guys?" Hotch asked.

"Oh, few minutes of harmless fun won't hurt," JJ replied. "Close the door and get over here."

With a shrug, Hotch did as the media liaison requested.

"Hey Prentiss, turn that light on a minute," Garcia said, as Hotch made his way through the darkened office.

Prentiss did so, and Garcia grabbed the bag of candy from the desk. "Everyone take one. We'll stand in a circle and everyone can bit into the Life Saver at the same time. It'll be easier for everyone to see."

Humoring their blonde technical analyst the profilers took a candy out and unwrapped it. Prentiss turned off the penlight as they all formed a tight circle.

"On the count of three," Garcia instructed, the words a bit hard to understand as she tried to speak with the candy between her teeth. "One, two, three."

Everyone in the room bit into the candy, causing six blue sparks to flash right before the office door opened again. The six occupants of the room turned to find the team's newest member, legendary profiler David Rossi, standing in the doorway. He was giving his new teammates a quizzical look.

"I don't want to know," Rossi finally said, before anyone could speak. He started to back out of the doorway, saying softly, "I thought I was coming back to the FBI not joining a circus."

As the room plunged into darkness once again, four profilers and one technical analyst broke into laughter. Hotch simply allowed himself to smile as he thought about how they must have looked to the older agent.

"So, who wants the task of demonstrating this to our newest team member?" Hotch asked innocently, causing another round of laughter to fill the dark office.

* paraphrased from information taken from http:/ recipes. /question505. htm


End file.
